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Celebrities, Las Vegas City officials, and fans all came together Friday night to see the newest addition to the Las Vegas skyline, Sphere, open its doors for the first time.
Irish rock band U2 took the stage for a sold-out concert on Friday for the first show in their UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere residency. The band has more than two dozen performances scheduled through Dec. 16 with ticket prices ranging from $400 to $1,450.
Celebrities from all corners including actors Aaron Paul, Adam Scott, Bryan Cranston, Dakota Fanning, musician Diplo, boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya, and more made an appearance for the inaugural event.
Madison Square Garden CEO James Dolan, Saturday Night Live alumni Chris Kattan, actress Jane Seymour, actor Jon Hamm, and actor Luke Wilson were among those seen at the Sphere’s red carpet prior to the performance.
The Sphere is the largest spherical structure in the world at 336 feet tall and 516 feet wide. The more than $2 billion project be home to concerts and shows utilizing a 160,000 wraparound LED display and 164,000 speakers along with 4D capabilities that will surround the audience in their seats.
That was on display during U2’s performance.
It looked like a typical U2 outdoor concert: Two helicopters zoomed through the starlit sky before producing spotlights over a Las Vegas desert and frontman Bono, who kneeled to the ground while singing the band’s 2004 hit “Vertigo.”
This scene may seem customary, but the visuals were created by floor-to-ceiling graphics inside the immersive Sphere. It was one of the several impressive moments during U2’s “UV Achtung Baby” residency launch show at the high-tech, globe-shaped venue. Throughout the night, there were a plethora of attractive visuals — including kaleidoscope images, a burning flag and Las Vegas’ skyline, taking the more than 18,000 attendees on U2’s epic musical journey.
The outside of the Sphere, or the Exosphere, is the largest LED screen on Earth, consisting of approximately 1.2 million LED pucks spaced eight inches apart. Each puck contains 48 individual LED diodes.
The venue can seat as many as 20,000 people who will be greeted by a humanoid robot when they enter the experience.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.